Restaurants, and cafeterias, and similar food establishments, usually utilize gas grilles for cooking large quantities of food. The gas grilles use elongated, cylindrical gas tubes to cook the food to be served. Such arrangement, while efficient for most purposes, is relatively inflexible, and does not readily lend itself to re-configuration for wood/charcoal barbecuing, or smoking, foods to be served.
Diverse attempts have been made to convert selected portions of the commercially used gas grilles into barbecuing and/or smoking stations, so that the same restaurant could easily prepare broiled, fried, boiled foods, etc., as well as barbecued and smoked foods. Furthermore, the nature and texture of the barbecued and smoked foods could be further varied, and enhanced, by the utilization of flavored wood chips, so that the aroma of mesquite and other woods could be imparted to the food being prepared.
One attempt has relied upon the introduction of "lava rocks" into the bed of the gas grilled in proximity to the cylindrical tubes. The "lava rocks" do not produce any heat. "Lava rocks" or radiant bars merely act as heat diffusers, and do not operate either as a heat booster or as a flavoring agent, which characteristics are desired by commercial food establishments.
Another approach has relied upon the introduction of charcoal briquettes at selected locations in the bed of the gas grilles. However, the charcoal briquettes have clogged the apertures in the cylindrical tubes, the ash residue is unsightly, and this approach has proven to be unsatisfactory.
A more successful approach, for home use only, has been implemented in the past few years by the Robert H. Peterson Company, situated in City of Industry, Calif. Such company has produced, and sold, a metallic, one piece grid under the trademark "Flavor Grid." Such grid 10, as shown in FIG. 1 of the instant application, comprises a first runner leg 12 and a second runner leg 14, a first transverse brace 16 and a second transverse brace 18, with a steel grid 20 secured thereto.
The grid 20 includes a first outwardly sloping sidewall 22, a first longitudinally extending valley 24, a central horizontal cooking surface 26, a second longitudinally extending valley 28, and a second outwardly sloping sidewall 30. A first end wall 32 with a forwardly projecting lip 34 is located at one end of grid 20, while a second end wall 36 with a rearwardly projecting lips 38 is located at the opposite end of grid 20.
The grid is fabricated from a heavy duty steel, such as cast iron, with a porcelainized finish. Valleys 24, 28 fit into complementary notches in braces 16 and 18, and are secured thereto, by spot welding or other fastening methods. Supports (not shown in FIG. 1) may also join grid 20 to runner legs 12 and 14 at mid-span of the grid.
In operation, runner legs 12 and 14, which are triangular when viewed in end elevation, are positioned on the cylindrical gas tubes of the gas grille. The gas jets are turned on "high", and the grid is heated to its own fuel combustion temperature in 5-10 minutes. The grid, because of its metal body, retains sufficient heat to perform grilling operations, as needed, for extended periods of time. Wood chips are then added to the grid to thereby gas grill the food with wood flavor. The food to be grilled is placed on planar cooking surface 36.
The aforedescribed metal grid has functioned satisfactorily in the home grille market, but has gained virtually no acceptance in the restaurant industry, due to frequent burn-out. The food cooked thereon has been tasty, the grid obviates the need for "lava racks", and the grid is compatible with existing gas grilles for the home market. Also, the grid is economical to operate, since the temperature of the gas grille may be lowered significantly, once the grid has reached its operating temperature.
Nonetheless, certain limitations have been observed with the aforedescribed metal grid. To illustrate, the grid 20 is fabricated from cast iron, and frequently fails by warping or burning out after repeated heating and cooling usage, at temperatures as low as 800.degree. F. Since the grid is secured at numerous points to the runner legs, the entire assembly must be discarded. Also, the grid is heated up to its operating temperature rather slowly, and the time delay has precluded its acceptance by commercial food establishments.